Louisiana Music Factory’ Celebrates 33 1/3 Year Anniversary

Cyril Neville and Corey Henry Close Out the Day

On Saturday, June 21, Cyril Neville had the crowd cheering from the get-go with a crack band featuring Jamal Batiste on drums, Austin Clements on bass and Greg Molinaro on guitar. Special guest trumpeter Shamar Allen joined in after the second song. Neville played mostly songs from his own catalog including great versions of the standards “Mack the Knife” and “Exactly Like You.” The music was closer to jazz than most anything I have heard Neville play over the years with Allen blasting some solid solos and Molinaro stepping up with some tasty licks.

Corey Henry and the Tremé Funktet brought some serious funk amid a high-energy, hip-hop flavored set. He closed out with the late, great trumpeter Travis “Trumpet Black” Hills’ classic “Trumpets Not Guns” and a searing, guitar-focused version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.”